


take your old life (then you put a line through it)

by lazyfish



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Most Wanted Exchange, The Framework Universe (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 00:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18200747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Bobbi and Hunter are given a mission in the Framework - one that turns their lives upside down.





	take your old life (then you put a line through it)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Florchis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florchis/gifts).



The alarm shrieked loud in Hunter’s ear, and he turned away from it with a groan. “Make it stop.”

“It’ll stop when you get out of bed.” Bobbi plucked the pillow that he had been using to cover his ears out of his grasp, and Hunter glared at her. They normally didn’t have to get up this early, but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s tiny research laboratory had told them the night previous that there was important information to deliver to headquarters that morning. He wasn’t this ornery on the average morning. Whether or not Bobbi would agree with that statement was a different thing entirely, but Hunter was going to stand by that statement.

“Come on, baby.” Now Bobbi was playing good cop, crawling onto the bed beside him so she could lean over and kiss him. Hunter was never able to resist the siren song of her mouth on his and he sat up so he could chase Bobbi’s lips. Hunter threaded his fingers through Bobbi’s hair, keeping her close as long as he possibly could.

She broke away, and Hunter sighed. Now that he was sitting up it wasn’t that much bigger of a deal to stand up and get on with his day.

He took a short, cold shower. It did wonders for waking him up, but Hunter much preferred the showers that he and Bobbi got to share. At least they got to share the mission, Hunter thought as he tugged on his tac suit. It was starting to fray at the seams and was still too tight around the chest, but the suit was the best S.H.I.E.L.D. had at the moment - or ever. Things had changed for the organization since HYDRA had taken over.

“Ready?” Bobbi, at least, still had a nice suit. How someone had managed to rescue the Mockingbird suit from HYDRA’s archives was beyond Hunter, but he appreciated whoever had done it, because Bob looked fantastic in it. That, and it was safer than the standard-issue gear. With the amount of risks Bobbi took, it made Hunter feel better knowing that she had the little bit extra protection.

“Born ready, darling.” Hunter winked at his wife, and she rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s go.” Hunter swung the duffel he had packed the night before over his shoulder and followed Bobbi out of their bedroom, off the base, and onto the Quinjet. It was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s only remaining planes, and wasn’t often used for fear of it falling into the wrong hands. Whatever the hell the research department had come up with was good - really good. Or possibly really bad, but Hunter was going to think positively.

He settled himself in the co-pilot’s seat, watching as Bobbi worked to get the plane off the ground. She was still trying to teach him how to fly, too, but it was hard when he had to do all his learning on the ground.

In short order they were off, with a course set towards S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in the middle of fucking nowhere. The flight would take a couple hours, and Hunter hoped that Izzy would be waiting for them with a hot lunch on the other end. It was a vain hope, since Iz didn’t cook if she could help it, but a man could dream.

“What do you reckon is on that drive?” Hunter asked, gesturing towards the thumb drive that’s tucked in the front pocket of Bobbi’s tac suit.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” she answered, leaning back in the pilot’s chair. “If they wanted us to know, they would’ve told us.”

“You’re no fun.” Hunter crossed his arms over his chest, but was forced to unfold them when the chest plate of his suit began pinching the skin under his armpits. Stupid too-small clothing.

“That’s not what you said last night.” Bobbi propped her legs over the armrest of the chair, her blue eyes gleaming.

“It wasn’t. But I can change my mind.”

“Sorry, babe, but you can’t take me back.” She wiggled her left hand at him, her rings catching in the sunlight streaming in through the Quinjet’s front window. “No returns, exchanges, or refunds. Thought you’d have got the message by now.”

Hunter smiled. He had gotten the message two years ago when he had put those rings on her fingers, thank you very much. Every now and again he lamented that they weren’t showier and weren’t an accurate representation of how hopelessly he loved her, but for the most part, Hunter was content. Even getting a diamond at all was hard when HYDRA’s records listed him as unemployed and a possible dissident, and Bobbi didn’t mind the modesty of the jewelry anyways.

“Still think you’re the one who’s more likely to attempt making a return.” Yes, he was hiding his real fears under an easy-going grin and breezy tone. Yes, Bobbi understood what he was saying anyways. 

She reached her foot over to nudge him with the toe of her boot, the lines on her face softening when she looked at him. “Not a chance, teacup.”

Hunter huffed out a laugh. That nickname was ridiculous, and he hated how much he loved it.

“Wanna play I Spy?” Bobbi asked.

“We do this every time, Bob. Something white: clouds. Something blue: sky.” Hunter shook his head in her general direction. “That’s why I thought speculating about the thumb drive would be a hell of a lot more interesting.”

“My bet’s on Fury’s nudes.” 

“Barbara!” He needed brain bleach - so much brain bleach. Ugh.

“Either that or our sex tape.”

“We don’t have a sex tape?” At least not one that he knew of.

“And Fury doesn’t have nudes, asshole.” Bobbi grinned at him. “Okay, new question: who in S.H.I.E.L.D. is most likely to -”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Hunter warned. 

“Spoilsport.” 

“The only people in this organization whose sex lives I have a vested interest in are on this plane. I don’t want to think of my coworkers getting down.” He didn’t want to need more brain bleach.

“Some would say they’re just repaying the favor. You know, since we weren’t all that great at making it to the bedroom in the early days.” They still weren’t that great at making it to the bedroom, but at least they knew more of the nooks and crannies to hide in - and Bobbi was better at being quiet.

“They’re not here now.” Hunter yawned.

“Take a nap, babe. I’ll wake you if anything goes sour.” Hunter stood, pausing to kiss his wife before heading for the jump seats in the back of the plane. They made a better bed than the co-pilot’s chair, even if there was a chance he would fall off if the plane hit any turbulence.

Stretched out in the back of the plane, Hunter was soon back in the arms of sleep, his half-baked theories about the thumb drive forgotten.

\---

This time when Hunter woke up, it wasn’t thanks to an alarm clock. Bobbi’s face was a much better first thing to see, Hunter thought as he sat up. Apparently they hadn’t hit either turbulence or anything that would necessitate waking him up.

Bobbi ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing down the bits mussed by sleep. Hunter leaned into the touch, regretting that he had spent all of their air time sleeping instead of spending time with his wife. They’d have time on the way back, he told himself as he straightened his tac suit and prepared to follow Bobbi down into the base.

Izzy was there to greet them, Victoria a half-step behind her. No hot lunch, just as he had expected.

“The drive?” Vic asked, all business as usual.

“Good to see you too,” Bobbi remarked drily. She slipped the thumb drive out of her tac suit, handing it over to Victoria with little preamble. At first they had tried to make a process out of everything, complete with code phrases and protocol, but in the end S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn’t had the time to waste on those things. If even one HYDRA goon infiltrated them they were as good as done anyways.

“Is there anything else we need to do or did I change into this bloody uncomfortable thing for nothing?”

The three woman rolled their eyes in synchrony, and Hunter figured that was his cue to shut his mouth. Sadly for all involved, he wasn’t good at keeping it shut for long, and when Vic and Izzy began leading him and Bobbi through the labyrinthine hallways of the base, he began prodding at the question that was really on his mind. 

“When are you going to check that thing?”

“Now,” Izzy answered shortly. “We’re keeping you two here in case there’s anything that requires mobilization.” So there was a chance yet that they were going to see some action.

The small bank of computers that served as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s information hub was in a dark room in the heart of the base, and Izzy and Vic swept into the place like they owned it - because they did. The room was empty, so the air of authority was for naught, but Hunter enjoyed the opportunity to plop himself into one of the wheeling chairs and spin himself in circles. Bobbi gave him a look, but didn’t stop him from spinning in lazy circles while Izzy and Vic plugged in the thumb drive. 

The resulting files were displayed on a projection screen at the front of the room, and Hunter stopped spinning so he could look at the list of file names. Most prominent among them was a file titled ‘READ ME’. Hunter sucked in a breath, wondering if he and Bobbi were going to be banished from the room while the two women read the report. They weren’t, and Hunter watched in rapt attention as the document popped onto the screen.

The first sentence was a punch to the gut.  _ Our recent research has indicated there is a high probability we are living in a simulated reality.  _ Hunter was sure there was more to the document, but he couldn’t catch his breath.

They were living in a simulation? He knew that it had been theorized before even HYDRA had taken over, but he thought the bloke doing the theorizing was a nutter. The scientist had faded into obscurity before he could be more than just a flurry of poorly-written Internet articles about how crazy it was that they might’ve actually been living in a simulation.

Bobbi was still reading, and Hunter didn’t try to distract her. She understood the scientific mumbo-jumbo better than he did. Maybe he’d find a flaw in the logic the researchers were laying out. Maybe this was all a big misunderstanding.

Hunter stared at the back of his hand. He looked real. He thought real thoughts, and felt real feelings. How was that possible if he was just a string of code, nothing more than endless ones and zeroes?

Bobbi’s hand curled around the back of his neck, and Hunter jumped at the contact. She looked somber, and Hunter frowned.

“Come here.” He pulled her onto his lap, pressing his face into the space between her collarbones while she wrapped herself around him. If Bobbi was taking this seriously, then the chances that the scientists had done something wrong had just plummeted. She knew about experimental design and drawing erroneous conclusions.

Izzy and Vic looked markedly more calm than Hunter would have expected, and a hot rush of anger sank into his stomach. Had they asked for this experiment to be run? Had they known they were probably in a simulation, and never thought to warn anyone else?

Bobbi smoothed her hand down his back, noting his irritation. Hunter tried to relax, but he was still bristling when the two women turned back around.

“What do we do?” Bobbi’s voice was surprisingly steady, and Hunter tried to figure out how she made herself look so dignified while sitting on his lap.

“We don’t have to accept the findings,” Izzy said, slowly and carefully. “But I think we’d be in remiss not to have a strategy for where we go next.”

“So we need to talk to Mace,” Bobbi guessed. 

“We need to talk to everyone.” Vic scrubbed a hand over her face. “You two are welcome to go home if you’d like.”

Hunter snorted. Going home and living a normal life after learning something that shattered his reality? Not bloody likely.

Vic gave him a rare smile. “We also have room here if you’d like to stay.” The invitation to partake in the discussion with Mace was unspoken, but Hunter and Bobbi both heard it all the same.

“Go get something to eat. Mess hall should have something for you.” Bobbi stood and Hunter followed her out the door, leaving Vic and Izzy to stare once again at the file that was screaming a truth they’d rather be unaware of.

\---

“What do we do, Hunter?” Bobbi’s voice was small when she asked the question, and Hunter’s heart lurched in his chest. He wanted to be able to fix this, but it’s hard to combat nihilism when everything you’ve lived and breathed for might not actually be real at all.

“I don’t know, love.” She tucked himself further under his chin, her hand sprawling across his chest. Hunter could feel his heart bumping against her palm, and he imagined it was just as soothing for her as it was for him. Maybe he was just a gigabyte of memory in a computer, but he felt like he had a heart. He felt so many things, so much that he swore he’d be torn apart by his own emotions, and he still struggled to understand how that could not be real.

“We could keep going. Keep working for S.H.I.E.L.D., fighting HYDRA, being us.” Hunter tipped his shoulder up into a shrug. “Make the world better like we always said we would.”

“Or?”

“Or we could lay down and die, I guess. But that goes against our first rule, so I’m not sure you’ll be a fan of that idea.”

“Hard veto.” Bobbi sighed. “Why would someone bother simulating us? We’re not -”

“Bobbi Morse, don’t you dare say you’re not important,” Hunter interrupted. “You are the most important thing in the world, even if the world is just a computer game.” He raked his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face so he could kiss her forehead. “And I think we are important. Think about it - if there was no one to resist HYDRA, then the world would just be stagnant. Flat. If there’s one thing that’s constant…”

“It’s the need for change,” Bobbi finished. “Yeah.” She didn’t seem satisfied with that answer.

“I don’t have a better answer, Bob. I wish I did, but I don’t.” The world was turned upside-down, and Hunter couldn’t explain it. He couldn’t even explain the world when it was right side up.

“I’m not asking you to answer everything.” Bobbi seemed to be desperate to be closer to him, and Hunter wished that he could let her crawl into the empty space in his chest that today’s epiphany had left behind. “I just want…” She didn’t finish the sentence, but Hunter understood. He always understood.

\---

Their world was not meant to last. Hours after the discovery, things began unravelling - slowly, then all at once.

They were together when the coffee mysteriously disappeared from their mess hall cups, and when all the pens on the base went missing. They were together when the base disappeared around them, and as the stars winked out one by one. They were together when Vic disappeared, followed by Izzy, and then everyone else. 

They were together until they weren’t, when Bobbi faded in his arms, like she had never been at all. There wasn’t long for Hunter to wait, not even long enough for his anguished breath to escape his lungs, until he was gone too.

(They’ll never know it, but in the end - in a better world - they were still together.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the lovely [Flor](http://florchis.tumblr.com/) for the Most Wanted Fic Exchange. Hope you enjoyed, my love. <3


End file.
